The Dealer bought a car with an AC refrigerant leak, possibly this was why it was sold.
He has it regassed, sells it and, 2 weeks later, the gas has gone; no surprises here. It's like putting water into a bucket with a pinhole in it. The Dealer, or anyone else with a grain of common sense, should have anticipated that this would happen.
Isn't the Dealer at fault, first in selling the car with a latent defect and, secondly, in failing to repair the defect when requested? 7 refills at 2 weeks each takes up 14 weeks.
Penport wants a working car as per contract or, failing that, his money back as a poor second choice.
Who has paid for the 7 refills? If the 3 AC specialists have been sub-contracted by the Dealer, or if they were the Dealer's employees, then perhaps they have given him bad news that he doesn't want to pass on. Possibly an expensive part, like a compressor or the condensor is at fault. If the Dealer is still hoping Penport will take the problem away, leaving him holding the cash, perhaps he has just had the system regassed?
Try an independent AC specialist. Tell them there's a small leak and they should be able to locate it and give a price for repairs. Present the estimate to the Dealer. Add a figure for inconvenience and/or subtract a figure for hire of the car. Repair or money back sounds very reasonable to me. Smile sweetly and be sure to say please. If that doesn't work, sue in the County Court.
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yep i would take it to the best money no object air con engineer you can find, have all potential problem parts replaced (presumably they would guarantee this work) and then issue a small claims summons for that amount from supplying dealer...
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btw HJ i know youre in the trade and all that, but really in this case i think you should understand from the consumers point of view that all he ever wanted was a functional car...
what youre describing is what menay dealers would do/or expect to do
its not in line with what would happen in a small claims court
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Dave - you have kindly replied to my earlier postings and pointed me in the direction of the evap and you even recommended an independent - which the dealer personally took the car along to. They couldn' find a leak and wanted the car in for 2 days for a proer investigation, however dealer not happy to fork out for this ......
I agree - surely it can be fixed - but at what price and at whose expense ?
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I guess you have to pay, then issue a small claims against the garage. Give them one last chance (14 days) to get it fixed, and give a time limit for the repair to last (at least 1 month), then go ahead and sort it yourself, making sure you keep all the paperwork. Then do the small claims part.
In your letter to them, point out you have suffered a loss, therefore they have to put you back to the position you should have been in when you purchased the motor. If they can't do this, then they have to pay someone else to do it for you.
If you want, email me the name of the a/c guys you took it to, and I'll have a word with them, see if there is any more they/we can do.
Let this be a warning to anyone buying a car with duff a/c, or a/c that has just been gassed.
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I can't see why they cannot repair the a/c its not rocket science.Sounds like nobody wants to pick up the bill.I feel sure that an a/c repairer that knows what he is doing should be capable of sorting it pretty quickly.
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Well, well, well. Either they didn't look hard enough, or did, and the dealer didn't like the news, as you summise.
It's quite a big job on these, so make sure everything is as it shoud be when you get it back. Make sure you have no warning lights showing, and that everything works, and I mean everything, even things that are unrelated to the a/c. Things like the radio (do you have the code), all the dash lights, climate controls, wipers etc. They should also replace the accumulator, as recommended by Audi when the system is opened up.
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Dave - why the accumulator as well ?
Do you know why Audi recommend it's replacement ?
I'll phone deaaler tomorrow to tell him, but some additional info would be helpful. Also where is the accumulator on an A4 ?
Thanks
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Quite simple really. The accumulator contains a desicant that is used to absorb any residual moisture in the system, thereby stopping it from freezing up as it goes around the system. As you've had a leak of gas out, it figures that gas (air) can get in. Air contains massive amounts of moisture, and the desicant can very quickly become saturated. If this happens, the desicant can freeze, stopping the flow of refrigerant, or more worryingly, can break-up and float around the system, contaminating and blocking everything. You then will have a problem.
It is located under the front offside inner wing, accessable by removing the plastic liner from the wheel-well and the front bumper. Cost is usually around £70 for parts. Instructions when fitting, always say that you should only use a sealed new one, and that it must be fitted last and not left open to the atmosphere for more than a few minutes as it will readily start absorbing moisture again.
This is one of the reasons why it is quite an expensive job to do.
Hope it all goes well.
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